Giersdorf



(No Model.)

B. FISCHER. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ARTIPIGIAL LEATHER.

Patented Ju'1y'26, I881.

. V Q... m I a w ATTORNEY.

a mans, HMMMW- I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EWALD FISCHER, OF KALTWASSER, JNEAR VVUSTD-GIERSDORF, PRUSSIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO COHN & VVOLLPEIM, OF BERLIN,

GERMANY.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ARTIFICIAL LEATHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,872, dated July 26, 1881.

Application filed February 5, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EWALD Frsonnn, a resident of Kaltwasser, near Wiiste-Giersdorf, .in the Kingdom of Prussia, Germ an Empire, have 5 invented Improvements in Methods of and Ap paratus for Manufacturing Artificial Leather,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to an improved of artificial leather which is insoluble in hot and cold water, capable of 'resistin g even weak acids and bases, and which has the necessary pliabilityso as to be adapted for water-proofcoverings, beltings, packings, hot and cold water I hose, and other applications in the trades.

The invention consists, essentially, in the successive treatment of the fabric which forms the base of my artificial 1eather,first, in baths or solutions which contain chromic salts, and then in baths or solutions which containglyccrime and glue, by which treatment the imitation leather-surface isobtained. It is necessary that the diflerent operations have to be performed in the dark, or at least in rooms which are not exposed to direct light, the surfaces of leather being only exposed to the influence of direct light at the last stage in the process of manufacture, after the grain has been imparted thereto by pressure. The chemical 3o influence of the light has the effect to make the chrome-gluecomposition insolubleandtorender thesame water-proof. This is an essential point in the successful treatment of thefabric, as only in that case the intimate combination of all the 3 5 different compounds which are successivelyde posited upon the fabric can be obtained. If, forinstance, after the surface has been exposed to the light, a second covering or layer of chrome-glue would be deposited upon the fabric and again exposed to the light, the lastlayer would not assimilate or unite at all with the first layer, but would peel off. As the chromeglue and the other compounds are deposited directly upon the fabric, a more intimate ad- 4 5 hesion of the same tothe fibers is obtained as if the chrome-glueand other compounds are first mixed and then laid upon the fabric as has been done heretofore, in which case the peelingofi, cracking, and blistering of the coating of chrome-glue is an inevitable result, destroying the appearance of the fabric and rendering it useless for practical purposes.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent sectional side elevations, and Fig. 4. a plan View, of an apparatus adapted for manufacturing artificial leather according '-to my improved method. method of and apparatus for the manufacture Similar letters of reference indicate correspondi n g parts.

The difl'erent'parts of the apparatus will be described in connection with the treatment which the fabric receives until the same is finally completed.

The textile fabricw, which forms thebody or base of my improved artificial leather, is first passed through a tank, (1, containing a solution or bath of one part of bichromate of potash (K OI- O in'about forty-five parts of water of 4.4 centigrade. The fabric is drawn through the solution at a slow speed, so that it is thoroughly impregnated by the chrome solution, while the superfluous solution is removed by means of two pressure-rolls, b, and

returned over an inclined apron to the tank a. In place of the bichromate of potash any other equivalent chrome-salt may be used, though hichromate of potash is to be preferred. Be-

fore the fabric is dry it is passed through a second tank, 0, which isfillcd with a solution or bath consisting of one partof glue,one part of glycerine,and six parts of water. In selecting glue for this purpose preference should be given to glue obtained from leather scraps and waste. The constituent parts of the second tank are thoroughly mixed before use byboil ing them for two hours andkeeping them by a steam-pipe at a temperature of 75 centigrade. The fabric is then again passed through the pressure-rolls d, which remove the superfluous glue solution. The fabric is then con- 9 ducted over guide-rolls at some distance from a metal plate, 6, which latter is heated either by direct fire or by steam or hot gases, as desired. The heat radiated by the plate 0 evaporates the water of the glue and glycerine solotion and dries the fabric.

If artificial leather of greater thickness has to be manufactured, thefabricis passed through a second and third glue and glycerine bath and again dried by a second drying-plate, k, as shown in the drawings. If necessary, a third and even fourth coating of glue and glycerine may be laid upon the fabric.

To the solution which gives a second coat of glue and glycerine it is advantageous to add some antiseptic ingredients, such as salicylic acid or birch-tar, in the proportion of one part of these ingredients to one hundred parts of the glue solution. It is furthermore advisable to add to two hundred parts of the glue-solution one and a half parts of poppy or linseed oil and two parts of turpentine, by which the leather is fully protected against fermentation, and also adapted to be treated, after finishing, with fatty inks or blacking and dressin The fabric is now passed through a tank, f, which contains a solution of one part of tannic acid in twenty-five to thirty parts of water, by which a weak tanning of the glue is obtained, so that the mass deposited on the text ile fabric is made capable of greater resistance. The fabric is then passed through the pressure-rolls y, then through the second chrome-bath, 'i, which contains a solution of one part of bichromate of ammonia, (NHJlr O,,) one part of ammonia, and one part of alcohol in twenty-five parts of water. This solution is kept at the low temperature of from 10 to 11 centigrade by a cooling-pipe,to prevent the dissolving of the layer of glue. On leaving this solution the fabricis passed over a second drying-plate, 7:, and then drawn through the smoothing-rolls Z and the heating-rolls m, which are heated by steam or gas, and provided on their surface with the necessary grain or pattern which the leather has to receive. All these operations have to take place without exposing the fabric to direct light, though the fabric may be exposed for a short time to light before it passes through the pattern-roll m. The fabric is now wound up and finally exposed to the influence of sun or daylight, or any other source of light the rays of which are capable of producing the chemical changes in the chrome-glue. The exposure tolight may last from one or more days up to six weeks, or more, according to the thickness of the fabric and the intensity of thelight. As the fabric in its passage through the different solutions is submerged into the same it is coated at both sides. For imitation leather,

which is to be coated on one side only, the fabric, instead of being entirely submerged, is simply passed flat over the surface of the baths.

In the manufacture of extra qualities of glossy leather it is necessary to employ large glass plates, which are covered with a solution of one part of wax and fifty parts of benzine. For this quality of leather it is preferable to add to the last bath about one per cent. of weakly-nitrated cellulose fibers, so as to give body to the same. Before the fabric is then laid on the glass plate the surface is moistened with a solution of twelve parts alcohol and four parts sulphuric ether, which solution exerts a slight dissolving influence upon the fibers, and imparts to the surface a greater resistance.

By laying upon the surface of the fabric in this manner successive coats of chrome-salts and glue and glycerine, and fixing finally these layers by exposure to light, so as to form ahomogeneous coating, a fabric in imitation of leather is obtained which is far superior to that obtained by the methods heretofore employed, in which a mixture of different ingredients is laid directly upon the fabric, which mixture, however, could never form theintimate and permanent union with the fabric by the practical applications of the article.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The method herein described for producing artificial leather, consisting in first treating the fabric, under exclusion of direct light, with a solution of a suitable chrome-salt, then with one or more solutions of glue and glycerine, to one of which antiseptic and fatty substances are added, then with a solution of hichromate of ammonia, and finally, after the grain or pattern has been imparted to the surface, exposing the fabric to the action of the direct light, so as to render the chrome-glue layers insoluble, substantially as set forth.

2. As an improvement in apparatus for the successive treatment, in the absence of light, of fabrics in the manufacture of artificial leather, tanks and rolls attached thereto, in combination with pressure-rolls and heated plates or heated rolls, when used in the order shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The tanks a c f '5, in combination with pressure-rolls b d g l and steam-heath] g rolls m, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EWALD FISCHER. Witnesses BERTHOLD R01, CARL FEHLERT. 

